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Babysitting rates....

Will be taking care of three girls this summer, their mom works part time.
Would you do hourly rate or a flat fee?
Girls ages are 9, 6 and 1. The 6 year old is a handful to say the least, but the other two are fairly laid back.
What would be the "going" rate? Thanks!

beware of flat fees- I babysat for a woman who would always pick the kids up late *even though I had them like 10/11 hours) or she would call and ask if it was ok to go out for a drink with co-workers before coming to get them and such.
I charged her a flat rate every week

If I were looking for a sitter on a regular basis, I would expect to pay a flat weekly rate instead of an hourly rate - but the flat rate I paid would cover set hours, any additional hours would be paid at an hourly rate.
The amount would be somewhat dependent on the hours though. I would expect to pay a higher flat rate for someone to watch my kids 35 hours/week as opposed to 15 hours/week.

I was CHEAP...and stupid.
I charged her 120 for a 5 yr old and a 2 yr old. The 2 yr old was awesome, the 5 yr old...NOT so much! I had them 5 days a week. They cam at 7:30 and she was supposed to pick them up around 6 or 6:30. *the 5 yr old did go to kindergarten and I had to get her from the bus every day. I also provided their food.

I charged the neighbor 20 a week to have her son every morning before school for an hour or two

can't remember what I charged for the baby...20 a day? I'd have her about 3-4 hours or so if I remember right

Look at Craigslist for your area to get an idea of rates. Last time I looked it was between 90-125/week/child in my area for full time, but also a discount for multiple children. Long term sitters rarely charge an hourly rate.